The Wanderers; Or, Adventures in the Wilds of Trinidad and Orinoco

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER TEN.

  MAKE A RAFT FOR MARIAN--SAMBO'S RETURN--SAVAGES--CAPTURE OF MACO--HEESCAPES, AND INTRODUCES HIS BROTHER--KALLOLO'S ACCOUNT OF HIS NATION ANDPEOPLE--A NIGHT ALARM.

  Whenever my thoughts carry me back to that wonderful swim, it appears tome like a dream, and I begin to doubt its reality; yet all the incidentsare vividly impressed on my mind, and I recollect perfectly the scenery,the actors, and what was said. So I come to the conclusion that it musthave been performed.

  While we sat on the bough, we got out our provisions from one of theminiature rafts, and took our breakfast. The food restored ourstrength; but we required no liquid, for the moisture we had imbibedthrough our pores in swimming for so long prevented us feeling anysensation of thirst.

  Judging from myself, I could not help fearing that Marian must be verytired. I asked her if she did not feel so.

  "Yes, indeed; though I should like to go on, I am afraid I shall not beable to swim much further, and shall be the cause of stopping you all.My arms already ache; but still I will do my best, if it is necessary toswim on. Even should I lose my strength altogether, I can then lie onmy back, and Kallolo can tow me."

  "We must not let you run the risk of becoming ill," exclaimed Arthur."We must build a raft large enough to carry you, and we can tow youwhile you lie upon it. It will be far better than allowing you to swimon."

  Marian thanked him, and confessed that she should infinitely prefer thatmode of progression, though she enjoyed swimming for a short time.Arthur at once told Uncle Paul and our father, and they agreed that weshould build a raft large enough for the purpose proposed. We wished tohave it of sufficient size to carry our father also; but he would nothear of it, declaring that he enjoyed the swimming, and had no fear ofhis strength failing him.

  We at once set to work; and as we had no axe, we were compelled to breakoff by main strength, having first deeply notched them with our knives,as many small palms of equal girth as we could collect. We then had tocut up a number into short lengths, to serve as crosspieces. Havingcollected our materials, we set to work to bind them together with thinsepos. The raft, though rather rough, was of sufficient strength forour purpose; and even had it come to pieces, Marian had lifebuoys withwhich to swim. We placed on it all our small bundles, which we hadhitherto either towed or pushed before us; and again we asked our fatherif he would not allow us to build a smaller raft for himself.

  "No," he replied. "But I will accompany Marian, and it will afford merest should I grow tired."

  While we had been employed in forming the raft, Kallolo and Maco hadmade an excursion into the forest to try and ascertain the whereaboutsof the natives we had passed, and whether, from their appearance, theywere likely to prove friendly or otherwise. This they could tell, theysaid, from their style of dress and their hair, from the marks on theirbodies, and, above all, from their weapons. If they proved to be afriendly tribe, our friends intended to borrow a canoe, in which wemight perform the remainder of our voyage in comparative comfort andsafety. If the Indians were likely to be badly-disposed, they wouldsteal away without communicating with them; and they assured us, fromthe precautions they would take, that there was no fear of our beingdiscovered.

  They had been gone for some time, and the raft was nearly ready, when,as we were looking up the stream, we caught sight of a person swimmingdown the centre, towards us. We watched him, wondering who he could be.As he drew near, we recognised the woolly head and black face of Sambo.He had not seen us, nor did he when he was close under the bough. Theraft, however, which was floating beneath, seemed to astonish him. Heswam up to examine it. A hearty laugh, in which Arthur and I indulged,at the look of astonishment in his countenance, was the first intimationhe had of our being close to him.

  "Oh, Massa Guy! where have you been all this time?" he exclaimed, as Ilent him a hand to get up on the bough.

  "Hid away among the branches of this tree," I answered. "And pray,where have you come from?"

  "Well, Massa Guy, I wait some time; at last I think that the young ladyand you and your father get tired with the long swim, so I thought Imight as well bring the raft down the channel as far as I could tow it;but it stuck in the roots of a big tree which stretched nearly acrossthe water, and so, as I could not by myself get it past them, I jumpedoverboard, and swam along to tell you. If you all come along, some canrest on it, and others can swim alongside, and we then go much fasterthan we can by swimming."

  My father and Uncle Paul thanked Sambo for coming; and had the twoIndians returned, would at once have set out with him. He, however,required some rest and food, and was not disposed, he confessed, tostart immediately. Uncle Paul, on this, proposed that Marian shouldcommence the voyage without delay, with our father and Arthur as herattendants. I should have liked to go; but Arthur was a better swimmer,and was stronger than I was, and would thus be more able to take care ofher. Marian, who was ever willing to do what was thought best, now,with Uncle Paul's assistance, took her seat on the raft; while my fatherand Arthur, descending from the bough into the water, placed themselveson either side of it, resting one hand on it, while with the other theystruck out. Before they had gone far, they found the water farshallower than we had expected, and they were thus able to wade on, andmake good progress.

  I could not help wishing that I had gone with them, to share thedifficulties and dangers they might meet.

  In a short time they were hidden by the overhanging boughs and mass ofcreepers, which descended to the surface of the water. I expressed myfears to Sambo.

  "Don't trouble yourself about the matter, Massa Guy," he answered."They will get on very well, and there are plenty of places to rest on;besides, we shall soon overtake them, and before long get safe on boardthe raft."

  Still I felt anxious, and asked Sambo if he would consent to accompanyme, when he had rested sufficiently, should Uncle Paul not object to ourstarting.

  "With all my heart," he answered; "but I hope before long that Kalloloand Maco will come back, and then we may all set off together."

  We waited and waited, however, and still neither of the Indiansappeared. Uncle Paul was himself beginning to grow anxious about them,still he felt very unwilling to start until they returned. At length Iasked him if he would allow me to go on with Sambo, telling him myanxiety about Marian, my father, and Arthur.

  "It is very natural," he observed. "At the same time, I believe thatthey are as safe as they would be if we were all with them. However, ifyou still wish to go, I will not object to your doing so; and Tim and Iwill follow with the two Indians as soon as they return."

  Thanking him for the permission he had given me, I got my floats ready,and asked Sambo if he was prepared to start.

  "Yes," he said, "all ready, Massa Guy;" and raising himself from hisnest among the sepos, he lowered his floats into the water, and slippeddown after them. Wishing my uncle and Tim goodbye, though, as Iobserved, it would only be for an hour or two, I followed Sambo'sexample.

  Just then Uncle Paul cried out to me,--"Stop! stop! I hear the Indianscoming, and we will all go together."

  "We will go slowly ahead, then," I answered, "and wait for you."

  Directly afterwards I heard Kallolo's voice crying out,--"Go on!--go on!No time to wait! The savages are coming!" and looking back, I caughtsight of him through the gloom, springing along over the fallen logs androots by the side of the channel. The same instant, Uncle Paul and Timslipped into the water, and placed themselves on their floats, ready tostrike out.

  "Where is Maco?" asked Uncle Paul.

  "He coming, close behind," answered Kallolo, who had thrown himself intothe water. As he did so, Quacko, who had been forgotten, leaped off thebranch and sprang on to his shoulder; while Ara, though her wings wereclipped, managed to reach Tim's head.

  Shouting to Maco, who was, we believed, close behind, to follow, westruck out; but we had not gone many fathoms when we saw him, havingpassed the branch on which we had been seated,
trying to make his wayalong a mass of logs and roots by the side of the channel, thoughgreatly impeded in his progress. He would, we saw, have to take to thewater without his floats, though, being a good swimmer, if the distancehe had to go was not great that would be of little consequence to him.He was just about to spring into the channel, when a dozen dark-skinnedsavages, armed with clubs and spears, appeared, some bursting throughthe brushwood, others dropping down from the boughs above, through whichthey had apparently made their way. Several of them seized poor Macobefore he could spring into the water; and I saw one of them lift aheavy club as if about to dash out his brains. It would have beenhopeless to have attempted his rescue. Urged on by Kallolo, we rushedforward up the bed of the stream, where, fortunately, the water beingshallow, we were able to wade at a pretty good rate. The Indians,catching sight of us, sprang into the stream, uttering loud shrieks andyells--in order, we supposed, to intimidate us.

  On we went, now wading, now swimming where the water was too deep toallow us to wade, and continuing to make good progress. Looking back,we could still see the dark forms of the savages moving about. It was aquestion now whether they were about to follow us, as they hadapproached among the boughs along the channel; and if so, whether theycould make more rapid progress than we could by keeping in the stream,and swimming, or wading whenever the depth of water would allow us to doso. Although we had lost sight of them, we were not free from anxiety,as they might possibly at any time again burst out upon us. All wecould do, therefore, was to continue going ahead as fast as possible.How thankful we felt that Marian had been sent on before us; for had webeen compelled to tow or push the raft, our progress must of necessityhave been much slower. We, of course, kept anxiously looking out forher and our father and Arthur, expecting every moment to come upon them;but we had not calculated sufficiently the time we had remained on thebranch after they had left it, and consequently the distance they hadprobably got ahead.

  On and on we swam, or waded. The denseness of the vegetation on eitherside would have prevented us making our way along the bank, even hadthere been dry ground. We could only hope that this would effectuallyput a stop to the progress of our pursuers.

  At last, so great and continuous had been our exertions, we all began tofeel tired. I should have been more so, had not Tim and Kallolo helpedme along. Thankful we felt, I repeat, that Marian and our father hadnot been compelled to make the violent efforts we were doing. Mariancould not possibly have kept up, and we must all have been delayed onher account. We now stopped to listen; and hearing no sounds, agreedthat we might venture to rest on the projecting trunk of a tree till ourstrength had been somewhat restored. Going on a little way further, wefound one which would accommodate us all, and from which we could obtaina view both up and down the channel. We climbed on it; and for thefirst time I felt my limbs trembling all over,--the result of theefforts I had made. Uncle Paul observed me, and taking my hand, said,"I am afraid, Guy, that these exertions will be too much for you."

  "Oh no, Uncle Paul; I shall soon be better," I answered. "I am moreanxious about Marian and my father than about myself. If I knew thatthey were in safety, I could go through the same again withoutcomplaining."

  "As for them, I have no fear," he observed. "They had so long a start,that by this time they must be close to the raft, if they are not safeon it; and, depend upon it, we shall reach them soon after daylight."We sat for some time, when Uncle Paul suggested that we should take somerefreshment before again starting; for, notwithstanding our hurry, wehad kept our provision-raft and clothes attached to our floats; indeed,they were of too much value to admit of our abandoning them, unless inthe last extremity. We got out some dried fish and fruit, of which weeach of us partook, more from necessity than from feeling anyinclination to eat.

  We had just again done up the packages, and were preparing to start,when Kallolo exclaimed, "I hear some one coming!" We listened; and in afew seconds we could distinguish the sound of a rustling of boughs, asif a person were making his way through them.

  "Stay a moment," said Kallolo. "There are but two people; and if theywere foes, they would not approach in that manner.--Who is there?" heasked, in his native tongue.

  "Friends," answered a voice.

  "It is Maco!" he exclaimed, shouting a welcome to him; and in anotherminute Maco himself, working his way through some brushwood which hadconcealed him, climbed round the trunk of the tree, and joined us. Hewas closely followed by another native, whom he introduced to us. "Heis more than a friend," he said; "he is my own brother, who had beentaken prisoner by our foes, the Guaranis. They had compelled him toaccompany them on their expedition; but he managed to escape when theyretired to hold a war-council after their attack on you. On returningto the spot, he found me unconscious from loss of blood; but after hehad bathed and bound up my wounds, my senses returned, and with hisassistance I set out to overtake you. Fortunately, he had discovered amuch shorter cut through the forest than that made by the channel of theriver, and we were thus able to come up with you, though we scarcelyexpected it."

  We were thankful that Maco had escaped, and glad to get the assistanceof his brother Polo. Such, he told us, was his name. He was, for anIndian, a remarkably strong-built, powerful man, and would prove auseful addition to our party.

  We had now to wait and afford Maco time to recover his strength. Itseemed wonderful that, after the severe treatment he had received, heshould have been able to move at all. Fortunately none of his bones hadbeen broken, and the Indians care but little for bruises.

  The Guaranis, to which the tribe who attacked us belonged, are the mostwidely scattered of any of the Indian nations in South America. Theyare to be found, Uncle Paul told me, as far south as the Rio de laPlata, and on the banks of most of the rivers between it and theOrinoco, where the white man is not yet settled. They exist, however,in greater numbers on the swampy country bordering the banks of thelatter river. Their lands being completely inundated by the overflowingof the rivers for some months in each year, they construct theirdwellings above the water, among the mauritia palms, whose crowns offanlike leaves wave above their heads, and shield them from the rays ofthe burning sun. Not only does this palm afford them shelter, andmaterial for constructing their habitations, but it gives them anabundance of food for the support of life. To the upright trunks of thetrees, which they use as posts, they fix horizontally a number of palms,several feet above the highest level of the water. On this frameworkthey lay the split trunks of several smaller palms for flooring. Aboveit a roof is formed, thatched with the leaves of the same tree. Fromthe upper beams the hammocks are suspended; while, on the flooring, ahearth of clay is formed, on which fires are lighted for cooking theirfood. They are celebrated for their canoes, which enable them toprocure food from the water, and give them the means of moving fromplace to place. The tribe with which we had fallen in had, however,left their canoes in some other stream, or we could not possibly haveescaped them. They were also, it was evident, of a more warlike andquarrelsome disposition than most of their people, who are noted fortheir peaceable behaviour. They are, however, in other respects utterlysavage in their habits and customs. So little do they care forclothing, that even the females wear only a small piece of the bark of atree, or the net-like covering of the young leaf of the cocoanut orcabbage palm; while their appearance is squalid in the extreme.However, they cultivate cassava and other vegetables on the drier landsbordering the river. From cassava they make an intoxicating liquor, thecause of many savage murders among them. They depend greatly on thepith of the mauritia, as it serves them for bread. No tree, indeed, ismore useful to them. Before unfolding its leaves, its blossoms containa sago-like meal, which is made into a paste and dried in thin slices.The sap is converted into palm-wine. The narrow scaled fruit, whichresembles reddish pine-cones, yields different articles of food,according to the period at which it is gathered whether the saccharineparticles are fully matured, or whether it is sti
ll in a farinaceouscondition.

  Such was the account Uncle Paul gave me. Why these Guaranis hadattacked us, it was hard to say, except that they had observed, whenwatching our movements, some persons of an enemy's tribe in our company.Kallolo and Maco belonged, they told us, to the Acawoios, a tribeliving towards the head waters of the Essequibo. They are superior indomestic virtues to any other tribe, though warlike, and ready to defendtheir country as bravely as any people. Their women are virtuous, goodhousewives, and attentive to their husbands and male relatives, both insickness and old age; while the men, in return, pay them more respectthan do any other savage people. The young mother is never allowed towork, or to prepare food for her husband, in order that she may attendto her child. They are cleanly, hospitable, and generous, andpassionately fond of their children. They seldom talk above a whisperamong themselves, or get drunk or quarrel; nay, more, an angry look isnever discernible among them. They use tobacco, but do not chew orsmoke it; simply keeping it between the lips, for appeasing hunger andkeeping their teeth clean. Altogether, a more orderly andpeaceably-disposed people can scarcely be found anywhere.

  Such was the account which Kallolo gave of his nation. Allowances must,of course, be made; but still, from the specimens we saw, I am inclinedto think that it was in the main correct.

  Uncle Paul was unwilling to delay any longer, and asked Maco if he wasready to proceed. As Kallolo and Polo agreed to assist him, he repliedthat he would do his best to get along, though he still felt very weak."We will wait a little longer, then," said Uncle Paul; and we resumedour resting-place on the roots of the tree. Of such enormous size werethey, that we could all find accommodation without any danger ofslipping off. I got into a hollow of the roots, where I could rest withperfect ease with my legs stretched out; and Uncle Paul found a place ofsimilar character close by me. He would, I believe, have given thefinal order to proceed much sooner, but, overcome with fatigue, he fell,as I did, fast asleep.

  I was awakened by hearing Kallolo's voice crying out, "They arecoming!--they are coming! We must go on!" Opening my eyes, I saw thatit was already daylight. Uncle Paul immediately started up. I wasstruck by his perfect presence of mind, though an instant before he hadbeen fast asleep. He, as it were, in a moment gathered his wits abouthim, and inquired from what direction the savages were coming, and howfar off they were.

  Kallolo pointed to the east. "They cannot be here for three or fourminutes, at least," he answered.

  "Then, my friends, we will continue our course. We shall soon be at adistance from them. They have shown that they have no inclination tofollow us in the water."

  As Uncle Paul spoke, I looked around, and found that Tim and Sambo werenot with us. They had gone to a little distance in the wood, to gathersome fruit which they had seen hanging temptingly within their reach.

  "I have called them, and they are coming back," said Kallolo. "It willnot be wise to wait for them."

  Uncle Paul agreed with him, and ordered him to lead the way. We lost notime in slipping into the water. Kallolo did as he was directed, andled the way; Uncle Paul followed; I went close astern of him; and theIndians came next. We had not gone far when, looking round, to mysatisfaction I saw Tim leaping off the root into the water, with Samboclose to him. They both struck out with all their might, and were soonup to us. Several times I turned my head, fully expecting to see thesavages. On we swam, however; and still they did not appear. It thenoccurred to me that they might be making their way, as they had beforedone, either among the branches of the trees, or low down, amid theunderwood and over the fallen logs; and I could not help feeling thatevery instant they would appear close to us, and attempt to stop ourprogress. Had we possessed firearms, and the means of preserving themfit for service, we might easily have kept the savages at bay, or havedriven them back; but now, notwithstanding all our boasted civilisation,we were completely on a level with them, and were utterly unable todefend ourselves should they choose to attack us. Uncle Paul possiblythought just as I did; but not wishing to increase our fear by showingany himself, he continued to cheer us up.

  I felt greatly strengthened by our long rest, and much better able toproceed than I was at first; as, I believe, were the rest of the party.I heard Tim joking with Sambo. "Arrah now, sure, I am altogether turnedinto a big fish with this long swim, and it will be a hard matter totake to walking again on the dry earth!" he exclaimed. "How do youfeel, Sambo?"

  "I verry like a fish too, Massa Tim," answered the black. "But still Ihope to turn into man again."

  I felt much as Sambo said he did, and certainly should have been wellcontent to find myself safe on shore, and in a comfortable abode--aluxury we were not likely to enjoy for many a day to come.

  As on the previous day, with the bright sun shining down upon us, I feltmy spirits rise, and the dangers I had so dreaded in the dark appearedof a less terrific character. After all, should the savages come upwith us, as Maco and his brother had escaped from them, so might we.Perhaps, too, they might not be quite so savage as we had supposed, andmight have been prompted by curiosity, rather than from any hostilefeelings, to pursue us. Still, of course, it would be prudent to keepout of their way. Uncle Paul thought so too, and told me to pass theword to those astern, that we must be prepared to swim on till we couldcome up with Marian and my father and Arthur. On, therefore, we went.It was swim, swim, swim, hour after hour. Of course, had we not had thegourds to support us, it would have been impossible to continue on solong as we did. Resting on them, there was no great difficulty, as wecould drive ourselves on with our feet, while we merely guided ourcourse with our arms. Still, even though thus supported, and withoutany actual danger of sinking, we at length again grew weary; and, inaddition, we began to feel the pangs of hunger.

  Tim was the first to cry out. "Arrah, Master Guy! couldn't you justspeak to Mr Paul, and tell him we are starving? If it's all the sameto him, we will just put ashore on one of the big trunks and stow away alittle food in our insides; for though it's something like the life offishes we are leading, we cannot eat, as they do, in the water."

  I told Uncle Paul what Tim said; and we accordingly once more climbed onto a convenient resting-place, where food was served out to all hands.